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"Ah! Master!"
"I know her!"
"She's the campus beauty at our university—Chizuru from the flight attendant class!"
"She lives in the dorm diagonally across from mine. We're pretty close!"
"Master, please save her!"
Hana clutched Julian's arm, pleading.
"Alright, alright."
Since his little follower was asking, he figured he'd indulge her.
Julian grabbed the Hammer of Destruction and stepped out of the car.
Thud, thud, thud…
He swung the hammer like he was playing whack-a-mole, one zombie per hit.
In just a few moments, the dozen or so zombies surrounding the streetlight were all taken care of.
"You can come down now," Julian called, looking up.
And when he looked up…
Damn.
No wonder she was the campus beauty. Her figure was… perfect. Soft, full curves like ripe peaches.
Clinging to the streetlight, Chizuru noticed his gaze and immediately let go, sliding down.
And as she slid—
Her short skirt flipped right up.
Nothing left to hide…
"Hey, have you seen enough?!"
"That's too much!"
The moment she landed, Chizuru hurriedly pressed her skirt down.
"You're the one climbing that high in a short skirt. Who's being too much?" Julian shot back.
It's not like I asked to see anything. And somehow I'm the bad guy?
"Alright, alright, Chizuru, my master didn't mean it," Hana quickly smoothed things over. "Besides, he just saved you."
"Master?"
"Hana, you call him master?"
Chizuru looked at the two of them with a strange expression.
That kind of title… are they into some kind of weird roleplay?
Hana was practically the pride of the nursing department. Plenty of guys chased her, and she ignored all of them.
And now she was calling some guy "master"…
Chizuru was completely stunned.
Did she lower her dignity just to survive in this apocalypse?
If it were me, I'd rather die, she thought.
"By the way, how did you end up climbing a streetlight?" Hana asked curiously.
"I didn't want to…" Chizuru sighed. "It's a long story."
"Can we find somewhere safer to talk?"
She glanced around nervously.
"Don't worry, it's safe here," Hana said confidently.
She hadn't sensed any powerful zombies nearby, and the ordinary ones were easy enough to keep at bay.
Chizuru looked around again. There really weren't any zombies approaching, so she finally relaxed.
"You have no idea how sudden the outbreak was," she began.
"There are so many people at school… which means even more zombies."
"Our class happened to be having a gathering in the cafeteria. We managed to survive the first wave by sealing the shutters."
"Yesterday, we ran out of food. Someone suggested going out to look for more."
"But the moment we opened the door, the zombies flooded in."
"Out of more than a hundred people… only a little over thirty made it out."
"We hid in the small theater on campus overnight."
"Everyone was starving, so we drew lots and sent a few people out to find food."
"I was one of them."
"I didn't find anything to eat—just ended up being chased by zombies. I had no choice but to climb that streetlight."
"I've been stuck up there for half an hour!"
She kicked a small stone at her feet, clearly frustrated.
Grrr…
Her stomach growled loudly.
She hadn't eaten in over a day. Of course she was starving.
"Master, can we give her something to eat?" Hana asked softly. "She used to take good care of me."
Julian reached into his backpack and pulled out a cucumber.
He usually carried some snacks to keep his strength up.
"Ah! Thank you!"
Chizuru grabbed it and started devouring it immediately.
After a few bites, she suddenly stopped.
"What? Not your taste?" Julian asked.
The cucumber was pretty good—thin skin, juicy, crisp. Shiro loved these.
"No…" Chizuru shook her head. "I can't eat it all myself."
"I need to save some for the others…"
She forced herself to stop, even though she was clearly struggling.
"You guys must be really close, huh? Sharing one cucumber," Julian said flatly. "But whether they live or die has nothing to do with me."
"Hana, let's go. We've got things to do."
The sooner they found the seeds, the sooner they could head back.
"Okay…" Hana nodded.
Her master really didn't care about anyone else unless there was something in it for him.
That cold, detached attitude…
She kind of loved it.
"C-Can I come with you for now?" Chizuru asked hesitantly.
"I don't feel safe going back alone…"
If she hadn't drawn the short straw, she wouldn't have dared wander outside in the first place.
After seeing how easily Julian took down a dozen zombies, she felt like sticking with him was her only safe option.
"You can follow, just don't get in the way," Julian said casually.
Don't think I'll treat you special just because you're pretty. My Hana and Mafuyu aren't any less beautiful.
If it weren't for how you used to look after Hana, I wouldn't bother with you at all.
The three of them headed toward the teaching buildings.
"Ugh… which one is the agriculture building again…" Hana muttered, confused.
She skipped classes a lot to work part-time, so she wasn't familiar with the campus layout.
"That one!" Chizuru pointed to the building in the middle.
Julian glanced at her. Bringing her along was actually useful—saved him some time.
"Go ahead and finish that half cucumber," he said. "I'll give you another one later."
Consider it payment for pointing the way.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch…"
Chizuru's eyes lit up, and she quickly finished it like a hungry hamster.
Before long, it was gone.
Burp.
She ate so fast she even let out a small burp.
"By the way, what are you doing in the agriculture building?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be looking for food in a situation like this?"
Seeds… what, are you planning to roast beans or something?
"We're looking for seeds to grow our own food at the base," Hana explained.
"Grow food? A base?"
Chizuru froze.
While she was risking her life for scraps of food, they were already thinking about farming?
The gap between them was unreal.
Still reeling from the shock, she watched as Julian pushed open the door to a classroom.
Several zombies lunged out immediately.
He didn't hesitate—just swung his hammer and crushed them.
His strength had improved a lot lately. Even swinging the hammer felt easier now.
Then—
A strange zombie staggered out from inside.
From its eye sockets and ears, several green sprouts had eerily grown out…
"....."